Volkswagen Polo 81TSI Comfortline 2016 review

Tim Robson road tests and reviews the VW Polo 81TSI Comfortline with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Despite the fact that mini SUVs are marching up the sales order like ants on a picnic basket, the light car market still moves a solid volume of machines every month. Cars like the Toyota Yaris and Mazda2 both sell strongly, while Hyundai's Accent tops the charts.

Volkwagen's fifth-generation Polo was blessed with good foundations, but perhaps lagged a little on interior gadgets – this, however, has been fixed with a 2016 spec change for the 81TSI Comfortline that brings the right gear at a lower price.

Design

No changes to the exterior were made for the update, with the Comfortline coming standard with 15-inch alloys, colour-coded door handles and daytime running lamps to accentuate its non-gender specific good looks.

Our tester has been optioned with a Sports Pack that nets a set of 17-inch alloys and lowered suspension, giving it a look not too dissimilar to its bigger, tougher sibling, the GTI.

Practicality

Cloth trim and a round leather-wrapped tilt-and-reach-adjustable steering wheel take pride of place in an interior that really does belie its budget hatch origins. 

Rear-seat room is surprisingly generous even at my 187cm height.

There's a height-adjustable centre armrest between the two front seats, which is a nice touch, while heated mirrors are a neat fitment as well.

The little five-door sports 60/40 split-fold rear seats that lay (almost) flat when needed. There's 280 litres of luggage space behind the rear pews with the seats in place, pushing out to 952 litres with the seats down. 

It's a deceptively spacious load area that will take a week's worth of shopping for a family of four. A space-saver wheel is tucked under the boot floor.

Rear-seat room is surprisingly generous even at my 187cm height, thanks to a squared-off roofline and decent foot room. 

Even if your kids are pushing into teenagehood, there's room in the back for them.

The manual-adjust front seats are narrow in the base yet still sufficiently supportive, and both have clever storage drawers hidden underneath. 

The Polo lacks space in the rear door storage slot for bottles, but it will take large bottles in the front doors, along with a pair of small cups under the dashboard centre stack.

Price and features

The mid-spec Polo 81TSi Comfortline is available in two variants; the six-speed manual starts at $18,490 before on-road costs, while the seven-speed DSG equipped version is $2,500 extra.

Equipment levels are healthy enough for a circa-$20k small hatch, though a few key items have been moved onto options lists.

An Apple/Android compatible streaming Bluetooth-equipped 6.5-inch multimedia system, heated external mirrors and a rear view camera are among the standard items.

You'll need to opt for the $1900 Driver Assistance Package to get adaptive cruise control, climate control air conditioning, dimming rear-view mirror, automatic headlights, driver fatigue detection system, front assist with city emergency brake function, tyre pressure monitor, satellite navigation and automatic wipers.

A $1500 Sports Pack nets lowered suspension, 17-inch alloys, tinted rear glass and fog lights.

Metallic paint is a $500 option, if blue or white is not your preferred colour choice.

Engine and transmissions

VW's EA211 1.2-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine is the motivator of choice in the Polo 81TSI, putting out (unsurprisingly) 81kW at 46-5600rpm and 175Nm at 1400-4000rpm.

It feels like so much more, though. Small capacity engines can feel harsh and overworked, but not this one. It has plenty of mid-range muscle without ever feeling stressed, and it pulls smartly away from the line with zero fuss.

It's not at all coarse or noisy when revved hard, either.

The Polo can be specced with either a six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG (without paddles). You won't lose either way; the DSG is well behaved in this low-torque application, and can be flicked to a higher-revving sport mode or used in a manual manner via the gearshifter.

Fuel consumption

Volkswagen lists fuel consumption at 4.8L/100km for the 1151kg DSG-equipped version, with our weeklong test in the double-clutcher producing figures that were closer to 7.4L/100km. 

A manual can return a claimed 4.9L/100km. 

Its fuel tank holds 45 litres of fuel, and the Polo needs a minimum of 95RON.

Driving

Coming out of Polo GTI, we were surprised to find that the ride of the 81TSI was more akin to that of the sportier version. 

The Sport Pack imbues the Polo with 17-inch rims fitted with Continental ContiSport 215/40 R17 tyres and lowered, stiffened springs, instead of the regular 15-inch rims and 185/60 R15 tyres.

The ride and handling are both still more than acceptable with the sportier tune, but the Polo can become tiresomely fidgety and sharp-edged at slower speeds over broken road surfaces and speed bumps. The standard suspension tune is spot on for the cut and thrust of the urban jungle.

Otherwise, the Polo behaves like a car a size bigger, with excellent roll control, great steering and good visibility. It's a doddle to maneuver and park, will easily accommodate four regular humans and can be pushed into multi-hour journey use without fuss.

Safety

We're pleased that a rear view camera has moved from the options list to being standard fitment, but the Polo still misses out on almost every new-generation safety feature on sale today, like city emergency braking as standard.

The 81TSI can be specced with radar cruise and emergency city braking – the only Polo in the three-car range that can, incidentally – by opting in on the Driver Assistance Package at $1900.

Six airbags – including front and rear curtain bags - and post-collision braking, along with the rear-view camera, nets the Polo a five-star ANCAP rating.

Ownership

Volkswagen offers a fixed price service structure for the Polo for six years, with the most expensive service costing $655 at the four-year mark. The total price is $2389.

Brake fluid and pollen filters aren't included in the price.

All Polos also come with a three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty and roadside assistance is offered during the period.